Valentine Crafts and a naughty cat!

 

 


 I finally finished my Valentines Day vignette with some of the crafts I started.  Since I don't have a mantle this shelf will serve the purpose.  I put together the heart garland with fabric and fabric glue, no sew crafts are some of my favorites. 



I found an old tarnished tea pot that looks pretty with the pink roses I had in another room.  I can't seem to get this old teapot back to a shine but it does look nice with the roses. 

 

 

I also picked up some pink and white tulips to bring a little Spring into our world.  With the weather as it has been it almost feels like it will never warm up. I have a little collection of cherubs.  I don't know when I started collecting them. I just seem to pick up little cherub things here and there.  I think they are perfect for Valentines day.  This is another area that serves as a faux mantle.

 

 

I was looking at my little pot of tulips this morning and noticed something peculiar.  They seemed a little ragged.  So I moved in closer.  Yep, something looked fishy here.  It looked as if something chewed them.  Did these things have bugs? 

 These leaves look a little torn up. 

 

THE CULPRIT

 

But I just couldn't stay mad at this little face.

 

 

The weather has been terrible just about everywhere these days.  This is the part of winter I start to loathe.  The snow is piled high and we have more on the way.  It starts to get grey and dirty along the roadside.  We're living in a black and white world.  The sun shines but it's a dull cold shine like it's reflecting through a pane of glass.  I am longing for the first signs of spring, some crocus popping through the snow, the sun shining a little earlier in the morning, the hyacinths and daffodils.  I know we will see it soon but for now we will just have to live with it.  Even the dog doesn't want to spend too much time outside.

 

 

Stay warm my friends, stay warm!

 

Debbie

 

 

 

 





2014 Un-Word

DUMPY

 

I'm linking up with The Nester for the 2014 Un-Word.  The challenge is to pick a word to describe what you would like to un-do in 2014. 

 

 

 

My 2014 un-word is Dumpy.  I want to become un-dumpy.  I've gained a lot of weight over the last few years and I have noticed that with each pound I've gained I've become less and less concerned with the way I dress.  I'm wearing the same old tired clothes because I just don't want to go through the stress of trying on new clothes and hating the way I look in them.  I keep saying I will wait until I lose a few pounds but honestly I will need to lose a LOT of pounds before I feel satisfied with the way I look.

So, for 2014 I have decided that no matter what weight I am I will start to work on:

 

Losing weight and toning up.

 

Purchasing some new clothes that will make me look more pulled together and less dumpy.

 

Get a new hair style.

 

Spend more time on making myself look and feel more attractive.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of me at Easter 2013.  I haven't changed much since then, I'm still wearing the same clothes including that dumpy looking jacket!  I can't believe how dumpy I look! What a mess my hair was and still looks today.  I'm not hating on myself but I definitely need to start doing some un-dumpifying. 

 

 

 

This challenge couldn't have come at a better time.  I'm really looking forward to my journey in 2014 to become Un-Dumpy!

 

 

Valentine Crafts to get me back on the blogging track!

I did so many projects for Christmas and never took pictures of any of them.  I had to do a quick decorating in my basement/family room as I decided to host Christmas for the family.  We ran out to Home Depot and bought a cute $17 tree that looked great in the corner of the room, decorated it with some dollar store reindeer, some rusty colored stars and bells and some 70% off glass balls from Micheal's!  It paid off to wait until a week before Christmas to do a little decorating.  Right after the holidays we took out the tree because I did not want to worry about the needles all over the basement and the stairs. 

So Christmas has come and gone and I took the opportunity to do some painting after the holiday decorations came down.  I suppose the upside to having a tiny kitchen is that it only took my daughter and I a day and a half to primer and paint including the ceiling.  I also painted the living room which wasn't as easy because there really was no where to move the furniture so we just covered it up and painted.  I wanted a cream color so I picked out a color called Tudor Cream.  It is a little more peachy than I expected but it seems to work well with my furniture.  I don't love it but I can like it enough until the next paint change.

I usually don't decorate for Valentines Day but I decided to use some leftover wood blocks my husband cut for me from some scrap wood at Halloween to make a VD project.  I can't wait to build a little vignette with them. 

 

I found this frame at the Goodwill and picked up the rose paper and painted the letters silver.  The velvet bow was leftover from a Christmas gift.  I modge podged the little round vase last year and made these little clay hearts for Christmas gifts too.  I had a few leftover and this one looks great tied around the little vase turned candle holder which may go back to a vase with some red roses.

 

 

Lastly, I always love seeing the wild sunflowers that grow along the highway.  I so want to grow them in my own garden because they seem to be pretty hardy.  I was online today ordering some seeds for the garden looking for wild sunflower seeds.  I picked up some more Cosmos and a couple of other varieties.  Last year I grew the most amazing Cosmos in the garden.  The stalks had to be almost 5 feet high.  So I ordered a few more.  I realized though that I had already bought some seeds so when I got home I dug them out of a drawer.  I didn't remember what I had purchased and what do you know?  Sunflowers! 

 

While my blogging seems to be at a minimum things continue to keep moving here at Saylor Street.  I can't wait to turn my valentines day projects into little vignettes.  I also have to get a menu together for our Superbowl Party that I didn't know we were hosting until recently. 

 

In the meantime I feel the need to buy some pink tulips and put them in a pretty white vase.  The temps continue to drop outside and we have another 2-3 inches of snow on the ground so between my seeds and a bouquet of tulips I think I'll be able to get through it and continue to "think spring"!

 

Until next time,

Debbie

 

 

 

 

My Words for 2014

Happy New Year!

Here we are at the beginning of a new year.  A chance to fix the old, start anew, clean up the mess left from 2013.  I’m looking forward to making this a great year.  Am I going to start my diet?  You bet.  Am I going to get more organized?  You bet.  Am I going to clean up my finances?  You bet!  Yes, I’m going to do all the things I said I’d do last year, the year before and the year before that, and so on...and may or may not have been successful.  Sometimes the journey is the fun part, a new challenge, a new set of accomplishments to look forward to.

Instead of a resolution I’m going to carry on the tradition I started last year.  Like so many others I’m just picking a word or two to signify 2014. My word for 2013 was Patience.  I stuck to it pretty well until near the end when the holiday stresses began to build and small things became big problems very quickly, like the overflowing garbage can in the bathroom and how it signified the lack of respect at the Saylor Street Cottage...but I digress.    

So I’m going to continue with my 2013 word and add a couple more for 2014.

Determined.  The word for 2014 will be determined.  I will be determined in everything that I begin.  Determined to stay on track, finish the project, carry it through to the end. 

Frugal.  My next word for 2014 will be Frugal.  This year I’m going to pay attention to what we spend more closely, pay down some bills and shopping smarter. 

So there is my plans for 2014 in a Nutshell.  Three words:

Determined

Frugal

Patience

 

 

Happy New Year!